The publisher THQ released what seems like only one triple-A, Red Faction: Armageddon, the sequel to an open-world third-person shooter that garnered a lot of positive attention. The fact that their "licensed kids titles were below [their] expectations, and the late release of UFC Personal Trainer" was simply not up to snuff is extremely unbelievable. Surprising that kiddie games and a "fitness" video game, genres that are so deep in their own niche they might as well be its own ecosystem, are not enough to keep a major publisher afloat.

But here's the kicker: their triple-A title seems to be the biggest disappointment. That's something that both the publisher and their fan-base have in common. For many the allure of Red Faction: Guerrilla was its open, completely destructible world but to the surprise of those same fans, that open-world was mashed into the space that strangely resembled a traditional third-person shooter, regardless of the setting.

But wait, people didn't buy something that was NOT what they were expecting based on previous versions? That defies entertainment's established Brand-Name Theorem¹!

Alec said it, not me.

Now THQ is shelving the product because people didn't buy what they didn't want. Interesting; you know what that sounds like? Idiocy. I understand the business aspect but why not seeing if it was a fluke or not? Tell Volition to go back to the gameplay formula from Red Faction: Guerrilla before pulling the plug?

Give the idea some thought, then give it some funding.

¹Brand-Name Theorem: The logic-based theory that the "idiotic" consumer market will buy anything thatsports an established brand-name in good standing with the populus.

Ever since I learned there would be a remake of the old Thundercats show (which I always thought was delightfully preposterous), I've been sitting of the edge of my ass waiting for it to premiere. I've since become a bit more reserved in my excitement ever since I saw that absolutely terrible Voltron remake that came on a few week ago.

I plan on posting a minute-by-minute review of the premiere tomorrow.

SKYRIM::

Nothing more needs to be said. It's Skyrim and I will buy it.

THE LEGEND OF KORRA::

I have no doubt that this mini-series will be utterly amazing. Drawn and produced by the same people that made the original Avatar: The Last Airbender series, the production value in the first trailer is similar to many full-featured animated movies though I'm not terribly surprised because at the end of the original series, the animation was some of the best that I've ever seen. The characters look interesting and enemies are intriguing.

As everyone probably knows, I am flighty and ethereal. Like a fanciful phantom! Spectral similes aside, I have a new project in production! A mini-series of comic books.

The synopsis is an amnesiac who finds himself in strange world and takes a particularly aggressive approach to understanding it. Since he doesn't know his name, he takes the name Black after the color of the clothes he is found in. The issues will be mostly one-shot adventures, like a cartoon show, but with an overarching story if you want to call it that.

The art style can hardly be called any such thing. It's closer to Cyanide and Happiness than anything you might find at a comic book store. But, without any further ado, a sneak preview!

The short blue things are "goblynnes", again, following the simplistic art style. I wanted to emphasize how dumb they are, so I made them a race of knuckle-dragging Yoda-talkers. And that unfortunate fellow, suspended in mid-air is our hero, Black.

I've been replaying Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls (for the GBA) on my DS recently and I decided to draw the unnamed heroes of Light from the first title as full-sized people. I've been nurturing the idea of Square remaking some of the 8- and 16-bit titles in 3D and I decided to create some concept art. So far, I've only made the monk.

I didn't want to make the drawing photo-realistic because I wouldn't want the 3D remake to be photo-realistic. I was thinking of more a pseudo-chibi look, halfway between cutesy chibi and realistic designs. Having said that, I had quite a bit of trouble with the hands and feet. I noticed a few problems with proportions (his torso is a bit too long compared to the rest of his body) too but I had already finished drawing and shading in, so I decided not to alter it.

I plan to do the others (the Warrior, Thief, Red Mage, White Mage, and Black Mage) but I have to decide what postures I'm going to do them in and what liberties I plan to take with their overall designs.

Writing

I've recently begun to continue writing for that short Assassin's Creed inspired work and maintained course with my overarching story, "The Soulless One", with additions to the universe's fiction such as adding unique flora and fauna, creation myths, languages and so on. I don't expect you to know what I'm talking about when I say this because I haven't given MyIGN much notice on my ideas with that work.